Chapter 47
Lake of the Dead (1)
Once Lilliana joined the party, everything went smoothly.
“This much is more than welcome!”
Izumi, surprised yet delighted by a glimpse of Lilliana’s talent, greeted her warmly.
“…She might prove useful.”
Even Cedric seemed to acknowledge her somewhat as a companion.
And the final obstacle was—
“If that is your wish, then I must let you go. Please be careful.”
“Tera will always be waiting for you, dear. If things get too difficult, you may return anytime.”
The king and queen surprisingly granted permission with ease, resolving the matter.
“Are you really all right with this?”
“A journey alongside the Saint is a national honor. If I weren’t bound by my position as king, I would have accompanied you myself. Hahaha!”
Perhaps their trust in me played a part too, but either way, all was well.
We left the royal capital after receiving the kingdom’s generous hospitality.
And then—
“Lil!”
“Deold?”
On the last day, Deold came running all the way to the palace gates to see Lilliana off.
“You absolutely must return safely. Promise me.”
“…You’re being silly. Why did you come out here?”
“I had to see you off.”
Lilliana clicked her tongue as she looked at the sweat-soaked Deold.
“Don’t worry. If only to ease my anxiety, I’ll make sure to see you crowned king with my own two eyes.”
“…Yeah!”
But as she turned away, a faint smile appeared on her lips, and I felt a sudden tightness in my chest.
“You know how hard Mom and Dad worked for your studies, right? Out of spite if nothing else, I’m definitely going to watch you get that doctorate.”
So that’s how it is.
He was just a character.
Unlike the protagonist, even if left behind, the story could continue without him.
And yet, I didn’t want to just abandon Lilliana, who was bound to collapse if she strayed from me. Not only for the sake of efficiency.
I guess… she just reminded me of someone.
Whenever I saw that blonde brother and sister, I thought of my own annoying younger sibling.
So I wanted things to go well for them.
…Of course, if Lilliana had been truly useless, I would’ve cast her aside.
Good thing. Her trial shot was far more powerful than expected.
With me around, she could serve as a fixed cannon. At least with her wide-range attacks, she could easily overwhelm even Cedric, the protagonist or mid-boss equivalent.
“Since the princess has boarded, shall we set off?”
“Let’s go!”
Izumi, excited, hopped onto the coachman’s seat.
We could’ve hired a driver, but Izumi insisted it felt more like a hero’s adventure to drive the carriage himself.
“…”
Cedric, who’d have to take turns later, looked a little sour about it.
But realistically, we can’t bring a driver along. The three of them will just have to rotate.
The journey ahead would take us across rugged mountains and vast deserts. Too far for an extra coachman. So Izumi driving was inevitable, sooner or later.
Which made me feel—
Not the slightest bit guilty.
What kind of trash would make a patient drive? Not me, right?
“Uh, ahem.”
Lost in thought, Lilliana suddenly cleared her throat.
“Stop hesitating and spit it out already.”
“I wasn’t talking to you, commoner.”
“Oh? So the noble princess doesn’t even deign to speak to commoners? Why not leave the party, then?”
“What did you say?”
Ah.
Another fight broke out.
Sensing an impending headache, I hurried to calm Cedric.
“Cedric, you promised you wouldn’t treat people carelessly. And the princess is our companion now.”
“But—”
“Are you refusing my request? That would make me sad.”
“…No. I was wrong.”
Cedric immediately backed down.
Lilliana’s lips parted slightly in surprise.
“And Your Highness, please don’t dismiss Cedric. If we’re talking status, I was just a back-alley orphan.”
“I… I see.”
She nodded obediently, though she glanced between Cedric and me with an oddly envious look, as if she had something to say.
“Is there something on your mind?”
“W-well…”
Lilliana hesitated for quite some time.
Hurry up already.
It was frustrating—
Correction: not that frustrating. After years of grad school and life as a Saint, I’d grown patient with waiting.
Still, it would’ve been cleaner to just say it outright.
“The thing is…”
“Yes?”
“Why do you call him Cedric but me ‘Princess’?”
“…What?”
Oh.
I’d been startled, but now I understood why she’d struggled to speak.
So basically… she wanted to be closer to me?
“If you’d like, I’ll call you Lady Lilliana!”
“Lilliana sounds… hm, no, that’s much better than before.”
Huh.
Does she want a nickname too?
That would be easy enough.
But nicknames were a boundary—even Cedric hadn’t crossed it yet.
At this stage, just using names felt right. Skipping straight to pet names would break plausibility.
Speaking of which, maybe it’s time I adjusted how I address Izumi too.
In the original story, about this point, the hero party started calling each other by first names. After all their hardships together, being overly formal would be strange.
“Oh! Lady Lilliana, you may call me by my name too.”
While considering my address for Izumi, I said this to Lilliana. She hesitated, then spoke.
“Then… Eustinas.”
“Yes.”
Not bad.
Given what I’d done for her, this much warmth was within expectations.
Cedric, however, scowled at our yobisute exchange, though he kept quiet—probably because of my earlier coaxing.
(Yobisute: “to call and to discard.” In Japanese culture, dropping honorifics or switching from surname to given name signals intimacy. Commonly used in stories to show closeness between characters.)
“Huh? What’s going on here?”
“Ahaha…”
By the halfway mark, Izumi and Cedric switched places at the reins. Since Lilliana had only just recovered, she was low on the priority list.
With Cedric gone, the carriage felt much more relaxed.
“Lady Lilliana, if you’re feeling unwell, please say so. I’ll heal you.”
“Mind your— …Fine.”
“Oh? Lilliana? Did you just say you?”
Izumi, quick to catch the shift in our address, cried out.
“Saint! Princess! Let’s all use first names with each other!”
“Shall we?”
“Why should I?”
Izumi blinked at Lilliana in shock.
“Wha… what?”
“Can’t we?”
His big green eyes sparkled.
The innocent gaze of a pure-hearted boy—powerful indeed. Even the haughty stray-cat-like Lilliana faltered, retreating with a groan.
“Well, I…”
“I want to be close to you too, Lilliana!”
“Haven’t I already allowed that?”
“Then do you dislike it?”
At that, she surrendered.
“F-fine. Do as you like.”
“Yay! Then you can call me Izumi too, Lilliana!”
“Hah. So you’d even drop honorifics with the only royal princess?”
“Between comrades, we’re equals.”
Lilliana snorted, but Izumi remained calm.
“You think so too, Yust?”
“Mm, yes.”
He was speaking more casually to me now too.
Definitely the protagonist type.
In shonen manga or hero tales, the protagonist was always oddly informal. In that sense, Izumi’s behavior was right on brand.
And besides, I was Korean.
Unlike Izumi or these J-fantasy-influenced locals, I was used to being called by my name right away. No shock at all—just adapting to the world’s norms.
“It’s nice that everyone’s getting closer! Tonight let’s have a campfire together!”
“Campfire? What nonsense—”
“It’s romantic! A hero party has to!”
“How ridiculous.”
With Izumi and Lilliana bickering in the background, our carriage pressed on toward the Holy Kingdom.
And so, we safely arrived at the midpoint—
—or at least, we should have.
“Uh, Yust.”
“Yeah?”
“We’re lost.”
“…What?”
Cedric had messed up.
